How to improve your association, achieve better results, and avoid conflicts

If you wish to found an association or already operates one, your challenge is the lack of legislation on the area of associations. Consequently, the rules follow legal practice, meaning that they may be interpretated, and that they are influenced by the decisions and judgments continuously given or delivered by the courts.

Such variability may leave the members of an association in a poor position in case of subsequent disagreement within the association, e.g. if the association is incorrectly founded, or if the drafting of the bylaws is too loose and open for interpretation because there is no legislation to lean against.

At the same time, you will need to meet a number of requirements for the association to be legally recognized, e.g. be capable of receiving subsidies, hiring staff, protecting its members against personal liability, or applying the correct VAT and tax rules.

We can assist you in founding the association or reviewing the association bylaws

With us as your adviser and legal counsel, you will receive assistance in securing the association against both conflicts and disagreement, and further, we can also assist you in strengthening the daily operation and securing the association finances to best effect.

Our long-standing experience within the area means that we know all about the options and risks for an association as yours, as we already cooperate with associations of almost any kind and size. Therefore, we can quickly and easily intervene and assist with the foundation of the association, assist with the Generel Meeting, or review the bylaws and ensure the legal validity of the involvement in association activities.

As lawyers, we improve and protect your association

There are many reasons why you will be in a stronger position as an association with Hjulmand­Kaptain as your legal adviser, the most important reasons being the following:

• We ensure that judicial decisions and legal requirements are complied with. Your association must comply with a number of legal requirements to secure its position to best effect. At the same time, there is hardly any legislation on the area. Therefore, lawsuits and conflicts within the association must be settled on the basis of judicial decisions.
  
  This means that in case of a conflict or lawsuit, the outcome depends on whether you – or your legal counsel – know about previous rulings and decisions on the area and can interpret them to best practice. 

• You will be in a stronger position when the association is duly founded. Often, an association must be registered with the Danish Business Authority and/or the Danish Tax Agency. In that connection, it is important that you put the association in the right category. A mistake in that respect may affect the possibilities for the association and cause expensive problems in future if the category needs to be changed later on.
  
  HjulmandKaptain’s lawyers are your guarantee for a correct foundation of the association, a registration in the right category, and an appropriate and valid drafting of bylaws, as well as observance of all time-limits.
  
  This ensures the association against future conflicts, e.g. with members, because there is a strong legal base.

• We know the requirements providing further options for the association. An association must meet several requirements for foundation meeting, management, finances, etc. in order to be legally acknowledged and thus capable of obtaining tax and VAT advantages, receiving subsidies, and employing and protecting the members against personal liability and responsibility for involvement in the association activities.
    
• The bylaws must be detailed and valid. The association bylaws are in practice the internal rules and guidelines for the operation. Further, they are your support in case of any conflict or disagreement because the legislation on the area is so scanty.
  
  Thus, it is decisive that they are detailed, legally valid, and updated, e.g. every 3 years, in order to be continuously adapted to the development within the association and the legal practice on the area.
  
  In a conflict, you will almost always be in a poorer position if the bylaws are outdated or open for interpretation due to the risk of misunderstanding or distortion.
    
• Securing a legal operation. Naturally, it is important that the association observes both the guidelines set out in the bylaws, the legislation, and the rules applying e.g. to time limits and registrations of resolutions of general meetings, reporting and documentation, etc. for the purpose of ensuring a legal operation.
  
  
• Efficient settlement of conflicts by professional mediation. A major part of our assistance with associations is that we can act as mediators in conflicts, e.g. between members, in interpretation of bylaws, issues of expulsion, voting rules, etc.
  
  In such situations, we can both assist with and find solutions to everybody’s satisfaction. However, we can also assist in conducting cases before the courts of law, if required.

Let HjulmandKaptain advise and assist your association in making progress

HjulmandKaptain’s experienced specialists are used to working with associations of any kind.

With us, you will obtain long-standing expertise in the foundation and registration of associations. We are used to drafting bylaws from scratch, and equally often, we review and adjust existing bylaws, ensuring that these are updated, comply with legal practice, and are legally valid.

Further, we can assist you in preparing and holding general meetings, so that all time limits and applications are met, and that all resolutions and votes are valid. Although legally advice is always a good idea, our assistance is particularly advisable when major and vital resolutions concerning the association affairs are to be adopted.

Please do not hesitate to contact us for a non-committal, introductory talk about your association and your options.